We have just returned from a three week tour of Japan with Patrick Harnett and JCT! There aren't... read more
We have just returned from a three week tour of Japan with Patrick Harnett and JCT! There aren't... read more
My husband & I have just returned from a private tour -3 weeks with JCT "Remote Japan". We wanted a... read more
In May, we completed a fully escorted 17 day Spring Garden Tour with Japan Custom Tours (JCT). The tour, which we helped design, was based on a previous JCT tour with the addition of Japans top three gardens. Patrick, our tour guide, with his impressive knowledge of Japan and his detailed understanding of the rail network, very quickly worked out the logistics and made suggestions on how to travel around Japan, thus maximizing our time to be able to do the things we wanted.
Patrick’s planning was exemplary and it showed in many ways. Hotels were first class, centrally located, and included breakfast. His in-depth knowledge of Japan’s high speed rail network allowed us to get to the various attractions in a timely manner and with no downtime. We made some small last minute changes to our schedule and these were accommodated without issue. This made for a very relaxed holiday with nothing to do but drink in the sights and enjoy Patrick’s insights to the history of each of them. We would thoroughly recommend Japan Custom Tours to anyone wanting an absolutely fabulous taste of Japan.
Just returned from a 15-day tour around Japan & it greatly exceeded our expectations. I found Japan Custom Tours through TripAdvisor reviews, which were all 5-star; we definitely concur. Many tour agencies provide a rail pass but expect you to get from place to place on your own. We wanted a guided tour & this was just perfect.
From the beginning when I formed the itinerary with Patrick for our group of 4 (2 couples), all details were handled very professionally. Our actual guides were Koji and Wendy (that’s right-2 guides for 4 people!). They planned our excursions carefully so that we had maximum sightseeing opportunities, but also time to rest every day. They tried to include activities which would appeal to the husbands, who were tiring of the many shrines. They were able to get us 4 tickets to the Yayoi Kusama museum in Tokyo, & this is very difficult.
All travel was by train except for occasional taxis, & all of our seats were reserved ahead of time. Koji expertly navigated through all the stations & we never missed a train. Hotels were almost always just across the street from the train station & they were all excellent.
They had advised us to bring only carry-on luggage for ease in the trains & crowds. Incredibly, Wendy did our laundry 3 times during the tour, & she refused any payment!
They helped us non-adventurers enjoy different varieties of Japanese food.
And to top it all off we saw LOTS of cherry blossoms!
We had one day in Tokyo for a day trip to see MT. Fuji. I contacted Japan Custom Tour based on the TripAdvisor ratings and we were extremely lucky that Patrick was available for a day tour.
What a great day! Patrick met the 4 of us at our hotel and we were off to the train station for our adventure on a beautiful but cold day. He tailored the day to our personal needs (one of us cannot walk long distances).
We learned so much about the area and the sights. Patrick is amazing --- it's like visiting an old friend who shot you his country. We cannot say enough good things about his abilities, We would love to do a longer tour of Japan, if we can, some day in the future and would definitely choose Japan Custom Tours again.
Wow! What a holiday. Japan Custom Tours, in particular Patrick, has spoiled us for any further overseas tours with this holiday turning out so much better than we had ever imagined. Patrick met us at the airport as arranged and stayed with us throughout the whole 2 week tour - He arranged all accommodation which was excellent, reserved train tickets, navigated us through the complexities of busy train stations and subway systems and went out of his way to ensure that we saw as much of Japan as was possible in the time available. His in-depth knowledge of Japanese culture and street wise experience made our Japanese travel truly pleasurable. Without a doubt, this is the best overseas holiday that we have ever had thanks to Patrick and his company – JCT deserves the highest recommendation possible. Thanks again.
Ray and Lyn
With Patrick's knowledge and ability to guide us through Japan,our tour turned out to far more than expected. We most certainly would never have seen so much on our own. Accommodation was excellent and and from start to finish this tour was one of the best trips we have had.
Alan & Gloria
My first contact was with Patrick and he was excellent. Patrick was so helpful and prompt with email replies before we even commited to a tour. First class service.
Our actual tour was conducted by Koji and Wendy and they were excellent as well. They were very friendly, knowledgeable, prepared to be flexible with our schedule and gave our small tour group and awesome experience and introduction to Japan.
Once our tour group was assigned to Wendy and Koji, Wendy provided terrific email contact ahead of our holiday.
My husband and I travelled with 2 close friends and 2 other lovely ladies.
We found out that JCT are even thoughtful and mindful in matching up suitable people together for the tours.
Tour groups are very small which is awesome and what appealed us. They also keep in touch constantly ahead of the tour with updates and great general info to help you prepare.
JCT suggested travelling with a small suitcase and all our group followed this advice and did not regret this decision. You need to be responsible for transporting your own luggage and we were all well aware of this fact before travelling, so prepared.
Most of our travel was by train and occasionally by taxi getting to various tourist spots.
JCT pre-arranges all accommodation and train travel and are excellent in navigating the tour group around. All tickets into the tourist places we visited were covered in the tour cost and handled directly by Koji or Wendy as well.
There is a lot of walking involved (including up and down stairs) so you need a reasonable level of fitness and agility to manage this.
Read their website and communicate with them to obtain info.
I can highly recommend this company for so many reasons.
Thank you JCT. What an awesome trio !!